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30 June 2015

Time Leap

Today we underwent a leap second, thus reminding us time is a human construct.

As the Earth continues to slow, leap seconds will grow more common. Eventually we will need one every year, and then even more. Scientists could have avoided these awkward skips by choosing instead to adjust the duration of the second itself. Who would notice? That is what they did, in fact, until 1955.
― James Gleick﻿